In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,916 I have described a garment hanger with molded integral clips at the end of a bar provided centrally with a hook, the clips having inwardly-extending formations above and below downwardly-turned extensions of the bar to receive straps of garments like bathing suits and brassieres. The clips also have fingers at the ends thereof for receiving the waists of panties, bathing suit bottoms or the like.
Such fingers have been found to be highly effective for the display of brassieres, bathing suits and undergarments generally, are comparatively inexpensive, and facilitate mounting of the garment on the hanger because of the shape and character of the clips.
In that patent I have described the provision of slots in the bar to accommodate a label, tag or the like providing information as to the garment, e.g. price or size.
Other hangers utilizing similar principles are found, for example, in my design patents U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 305,484 and Des. 327,578 by way of example.
Mention may also be made of a more complex construction of a hanger in which the hook, although integral with the bar, has a cap which can be selectively fitted permanently thereon and is of a color which depends upon the size of the garment carried by the hanger. The cap is intended to be applied once the garment to be affixed to the hanger is determined.
One problem with existing hangers of the aforedescribed types and similar display and sale hangers, is the storage problem resulting from the fact that the hook is molded integrally with the bar.
While it is true that hangers with separable hooks and bars have been described in the art (see my Austrian Patent 370,967 of 25 May 1983, for example), these earlier systems have not gained widespread use heretofore.
Furthermore, the earlier system, in which a cap for color coding the hanger and providing information as to size, for example, of a garment to be attached thereto, has proved to be unsatisfactory in part because that cap was not removable.